How I Entertain Myself

Country fun

I bought a firewood-rack kit at Lowes on clearance last spring. It looked really easy. The only tool needed was a screwdriver to put in four screws. The finished rack looked sort of like a shelf with attached bookends, quite similar to the rack at this link. The kit had the end pieces and screws in it, and the buyer had to supply two 2x4s. The directions said it would take about 15 minutes to assemble.

Today, I decided to put the kit together. I got a couple of used-but-sturdy 2x4s out of the shed and tried to "slip" the end pieces onto them, per the instructions. Ha ha. It took me an hour and a half. I had to rasp off the high spots for four inches back on each end of each 2x4. Then I beat the pieces on with a sledge hammer.  (Maybe I should buy a little wood plane? Maybe I should have used new 2x4s. Maybe I should have let Dennis do it!)

I still haven't completed the assembly. I quit and came inside when I got the last piece beaten on. Tomorrow, I'll put in the screws that hold the pieces in place, whether they're necessary or not.  I think it will take about, oh, maybe 15 minutes.

Just think of all the entertainment I've had already, and I haven't even stacked the firewood on the rack yet. That kit was definitely a bargain.

Image by Muffet
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License

13 Links to Enjoy

A "Thursday Thirteen" of all sorts

Most of these links were sent by friends and readers, and the remainder came from my own web expeditions.

 1. Download and install free software easily at the Ninite Installer website.

 2. Daily Sodoku -- Just one of many Brainbashers at this site

 3. Easy Bib -- If you remember typing footnotes and bibliography the old-fashioned way, this site will make you cry, "Unfair!"

 4. Slide show of cowboy and western paintings. If you enjoy rural scenery and images of ranch life, you'll also like these photos of the American Midwest

 5. How to make a folded German bell ornament -- for your spare time between now and Christmas

 6. Whooping Crane Reintroduction website with Operation Migration Crane Cam

 7. Print a calendar for 2010.

 8. A great set of corner shelves, cut from a single sheet of plywood

9. Eagle vs. fox  -- An astonishing encounter over a carcass (verified by Snopes)

10. Views of San Francisco Bay from a Zeppelin at 1000 feet -- very cool

11. "Foods That Heal" -- but don't stop your prescriptions!

12. "Guess Your Number" game -- How do these things work so well?!

13. Independence Day quiz -- Can you answer 20 questions once used on the citizenship test?

Thanks to all who have sent interesting links to share!

There's usually a large number of Thursday 13 posts listed at the Thursday 13 website.

Construction Adhesive

My Various Hobbies...

Today, I got a lot of construction adhesive on my hands, but I made good progress on the shop table I'm building. It's turning out to be a workbench rather than a table because I decided to make it narrower.

I thought about photographing my progress but I have such a mess in my workspace. I'll post a photo later when I get the table finished, the floor swept, and the tools put away.

I am still puzzling about the warped 2x12's that I want to use for the top. I have three boards to choose from. One is not warped. The other two are so twisted that when three corners touch down, the fourth corner is nearly an inch in the air.

I originally thought that I would use two boards lengthwise. Now I'm thinking about cutting the boards into shorter lengths and laying them crosswise. Short boards can't have as much warp as the 8-foot boards do!

I don't think that running the boards crosswise will affect the sturdiness of the bench at all. The bench is extremely solid (thanks to lag bolts and construction adhesive and a whole bunch of nails and screws.) It is the most solid thing I have ever built. I expect it will last at least a couple of centuries.

Of course, I could go to town and buy a new 2x12 that's not warped, but that would defeat one of my purposes for this project -- to use up a lot of scrap lumber.

I could finish up in just a few more hours. I wish I could get it done tomorrow, but I must work in my garden tomorrow morning, and tomorrow afternoon is booked too. Maybe Wednesday.



Related post: The Wood-Working Woman Wields Her Tools

(That title sounds so much nicer than "The Wood Butcher Strikes Again", don't you think?)

Technorati tags: workbench, woodworking, home handywoman, toolbelt diva

The Wood Working Woman Wields Her Tools

My Various Hobbies...

My shower felt really good tonight. I've been working out in the shed. I was sticky with sweat, powdered with sawdust, and smeared here and there with construction adhesive.

By the way, you can remove construction adhesive from skin with vegetable oil and the dish-scrubby (the one that is knitted from plastic string.) This probably works best if the adhesive is not completely set up.

Shop Table from Scrap Lumber

I'm trying to build building a shop table. I have several plans that I've printed off the internet and clipped from magazines. All of them require a bit more skill than I have, but what I lack in skill, I will make up with lag bolts and construction adhesive.

Part of the motivation for this project is to use up some of the lumber odds and ends and scraps that are piled around the shed. (Then I can buy some nice lumber when I want to build something else.)

Coping With Warps

We have a warped 2x12 that must have been 28 feet long. It was purchased by the carpenters who built the shed for us. Why? It should have been refused at the lumberyard, but here it is at our house, left over because it was too warped to build with.

I cut it into three 8-foot chunks, thinking I'd use them for the table top. They are so twisted that they don't lie together nicely. Maybe I can shim them enough to fasten them down securely on each end and then rent a power planer to smooth out the top.

I cut the pieces for the legs from 2x4's and started trying to glue them up, but they are warped too. It's driving me crazy. I finally got one leg glued and screwed together with its cross members built into it. If I hate that fabricated leg when I see it tomorrow, I'm going to make the legs from 4x4 scraps instead (no piecing together needed.)

Slow and Not Very Steady

You can't imagine how slow I am when I try to make something. Out of every hour, I swear, I spend at least half of it in heavy pondering. Another 25 minutes goes to false starts, mistakes, tool searches, and measuring a million times. Any real progress is made in the remaining five minutes.

I might have this very simple table done by the end of the week, or I might not. If I do, it probably won't look much like the original plan.

Technorati tags: shop table, woodworking, home handywoman, toolbelt diva

Simple Bird House

More About Birds and Animals... My Various Hobbies...

Here is a simple bird house that I made last winter from some wood scraps.

This nestbox was made to wren specifications. Yesterday, I watched a pair of wrens carrying many small sticks through the door. They were working hard. I was surprised what large twigs they carried.

I have used the same basic plan to make several bluebird houses over the years. I have two up now. They are mounted on tall steel fenceposts, and bluebirds are nesting in them.

What's the difference between a bluebird house and a wren house?
1. The size of the entrance hole
2. The area of the floor
3. The distance from the entrance hole to the floor

Many webpages provide information about the birdhouse dimensions to use for various birds, so I won't go into all that, but I do want to share this handy cutting diagram that you can adapt to any size of nest box.


This design uses two scrap pieces of wood. One piece should be a couple inches narrower than the other. Make each side piece at least one inch longer on its longer side than on its shorter side, so the roof will slant enough to drain water. Make the back at least three inches longer than the longest side measurement.

The easiest way to make the entrance hole is to drill it with a spade bit. If you don't have the right size of spade bit, you can drill many tiny holes around the circle and then cut it out with a jigsaw blade. (Wrap tape around the end you hold.)

To make the birdhouse, nail the four walls together. I hope you can see how the walls fit together from my not-too-good sketch at left.

Then measure and cut the bottom. Don't worry if the bottom doesn't fit perfectly tight as long as a bird wouldn't get its foot stuck in the crack. Also drill a small drain hole (smaller than a bird's foot) in each corner.

Last, attach the top with a hinge. The birdhouse in the photo has two strips of scrap leather as hinges. I bent a piece of light aluminum and stapled it over the back of the birdhouse lid to prevent rain from driving in there. The aluminum also covers the leather hinges.

I didn't have a hook on hand for the front of the lid, so I used two little screw eyes and put a twist tie through them.

A few more tips:

• Don't use exterior plywood or pressure treated wood because of the chemicals they contain.
• Don't paint the inside of the birdhouse.
• Let any paint on the outside of the box age a few months before giving the house to the birds.
• Use a rasp, nail, or awl to scratch the wood horizontally inside the box below the entrance hole. Rough wood supposedly helps the baby birds get a toehold when it's time for them to leave the box.
• Secure the box to its post at both top and bottom. If you are using a wooden post, you can put use screws, or if you are using a metal post, you may need to wire it to the post. Either way, drill the holes before you take the house to the post, and the job will be much easier.

Technorati tags: birdhouse, bird house, wren house, bluebird house, nest box, nestbox plans

Nuthatches Speak Chickadee

More About Birds and Animals... Some Interesting News...

You might enjoy reading this AP story: Birds learn meaning of other species' call.

It seems that chickadees give specific information in their warning cries about the type of predator they have spotted, and nuthatches understand the specific information and respond appropriately.

For example, nuthatches understand chickadee warnings for small fast raptor predators and they respond by grouping up, ready to mob the threatening bird. The article describes how this was tested by playing chickadee calls on a loudspeaker.

The old expression that "Birds of a feather stick together" is still correct, but it's apparently not inclusive enough. These little birds operate more like the Arab proverb, "My brother and I against my cousin. My cousin and I against the enemy."

Nuthatches and chickadees are birds we often see around our feeders.



Public domain images from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Institutes of Health.


Technorati tags:

chickadees
nuthatches

Shelving I Built

My Various Hobbies... Chores and Duties...

The new shelves in our shed, pictured above, are my handiwork. They're made with 2x4 uprights, 2x3 shelf supports, and 1/2 inch plywood, all held together by decking screws. I had the lumber yard rip the sheets of plywood in half for me.

I built the set of shelves on the left last summer, and I just got finished with the other set.

A real carpenter could probably have put these together in a few hours. I built the first set in one day, but it took me a couple of days to build the second set around the two windows. I had to contemplate a while between some of the construction steps. I also had to do some extra bracing.

Even though my techniques are rather primitive, I try to keep it neat and square and make it sturdy. I enjoyed doing the woodworking. That's why this post fits into the category of "my various hobbies."

I should add that if I had to use hand tools, I wouldn't be so enthusiastic. Power tools are wonderful.

The "chores and duties" part of this post pertains to the job of organizing all that junk, hauling it up the ladder and putting it in place. My extra canning jars are on the top shelf at right. (Yes, the entire shelf, except for the fishing poles.) I washed them all and repacked them before putting them up there. Oh, the virtue of it all.

At least the shed is nice and neat, even if my house became a wreck while I was working on the shed!

Technorati tags:

storage
do it yourself

Unique Shed Doors

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

Touches of human creativity and personality can be seen in odd places. Consider these shed doors. Given four small windows and two large doors, the builder could have done the typical garage door window arrangement. However, he chose to set them diagonally at opposite angles.

Apparently he decided to give this humble building a little pizzazz. And it worked, don't you think?

Technorati tags:

creativity
style

Seen at the Flower Shop

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

The flower shop's back porch

These two photos were taken at West and Witherspoon, a flower shop on South Virginia Street in Hopkinsville.

An old bookcase with an attractive paint job.

Technorati tags: bookcase painted furniture florist flower shop Hopkinsville Hopkinsville Kentucky

Seen In Hopkinsville

Life in Christian County, Kentucky... History and Old Stuff...

This beautifully detailed stoop is part of a home on Virginia Street in Hopkinsville, KY.

I was curious about the word "stoop" so I looked it up. Here is the definition according to Answers.com:

stoop (stup) n. Chiefly Northeastern U.S.
A small porch, platform, or staircase leading to the entrance of a house or building. [Dutch stoep, front verandah, from Middle Dutch.] Originally brought to the Hudson Valley of New York by settlers from the Netherlands... Stoop, “a small porch,” comes from Dutch stoep; this word is now in general use in the Northeast and is probably spreading...

And according to LaborLawTalk.com:

Stoop: (?), n. (Arch.) Originally, a covered porch with seats, at a house door; the Dutch stoep as introduced by the Dutch into New York. Afterward, an out-of-door flight of stairs of from seven to fourteen steps, with platform and parapets, leading to an entrance door some distance above the street; the French perron. Hence, any porch, platform, entrance stairway, or small veranda, at a house door.

Gingerbread in Hopkinsville

This old house has beautiful, fancy trim. It's in Hopkinsville near the hospital. The balcony is the focal point of the house, and its arch is echoed in some of the other details. In its day, it was a very attractive home, though it needs some upkeep now. 

It would be interesting to go inside. I imagine it having a large stairway with a heavy ornate banister, arched transoms over the doorways, detailed wood mouldings, built in cupboards and bookcases, and more -- but I'll probably never know for sure.